Snowflake Challenge: Day 10

Day 10: Create a fanwork.

dravati (2001 words) by toujours_nigel
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Mahabharata - Vyasa
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draupadi & Shatrunjaya
Characters: Draupadi (Mahabharata), Shatrunjaya (Mahabharata)
Additional Tags: Sibling Bonding
Summary: The problem with the Panchalans was that there were thrice as many of them as their father could use and they rode around Bharatvarsha making nuisances of themselves.

Prompted by, and for allegoriesinmediasres who asked for Mahabharata, Any, Gallivant. Still taking ficprompts here. Counting it for Snowflake because I'd had no intention of writing another fic so soon after the previous one.

Snowflake Challenge: Day 11

Day 11: In your own space, talk about your creative process(es) — anything from the initial inspiration to how you feel after something’s done. Do you struggle with motivation or is it a smooth process? Do you have any tricks up your sleeve to pull out when a fanwork isn’t cooperating? What is your level of planning to pantsing/winging it?

On a 0-10 scale where 0 is pantsing it and 10 is meticulous planning, I'm at about a 4, which is considerably higher than it used to be, which was at about 0. I started out in fandom writing drabbles, pretty much into the lj posting box, and that's still how I write not!fic and meta on tumblr. For longer fic I usually carry an idea around for weeks before I get to writing it down, but even then I rarely have scenes planned out, and it shows: most of my fic is utterly without plot, just a knotty ramble of feelings and introspection.

Since a lot of my stories are distant in time and place, I do end up doing odd little bits of research, but I'm very lax even there, and far more likely to abandon things when they get difficult. No surprises that I've left a Wimsey crossover hanging for absolute years because I can't possibly plot out a detective story. The lack of planning also tells on my lack of longer fic, which I can't really manage in a febrile rant, and my two abandoned HP stories bear sad witness to this tendency. I have to say no to the tricks up sleeve for uncooperative fic, and how!

Well, that turned self-deprecating fast. I enjoy giving characters room to be introspective, and I like writing moments of calm in frantically-paced canon. I don't have much luck self-starting, so I'm always happy to get prompts. In fact, if you like my fic, do suggest a prompt. Or if you wanna know about any particular fic, drop a line and gimme an excuse to be voluble.